BCCI.TV
Hitting it off on and off the field
13 May, 2016
Hitting it off on and off the field
13 May, 2016
David Warner threatened, Shikhar Dhawan tried and Kane Williamson looked promising. But, none of them looked like carrying on and batting long to take the Sunrisers Hyderabad to a sizeable total. Warner was aggressive but was undone by Jayant Yadav, Dhawan laboured his way to a 34 but Amit Mishra got the better of him while Williamson was beaten by a swinging full toss from Chris Morris that went crashing on to the stumps to end his stay at the crease.
It was a collective bowling performance from the Delhi Daredevils that saw the fall of the Sunrisers’ batting line-up. A miserly Mishra and a determined Mohammed Shami accounted for timely dismissals while Coulter-Nile who was playing a game after almost a month had figures of 2/25 in four overs. The most economical was Morris who gave away just 19 from his quota of four overs with the wicket of Williamson to show in his wickets column.
Sunrisers do not have the most devastating batting line-up in the competition but it did require bowling discipline to curtail them at home. What went into the making of such a commendable bowling performance? We at iplt20.com tried to find out from the Morris-Coulter-Nile duo who shared a lot more than just laughs in this candid interview.
In it to win it
Chris Morris: It was a very important win and we had a nice break after the disappointing last two games. It was nice to recharge our batteries and the boys were ready to play a game of cricket that we needed to win. We are happy with that and it is time to move on to the next one.
Bowling after a month layoff
Nathan Coulter-Nile: It is pretty hard. Match practice is obviously the hardest thing to come by. There was a lot of energy on the field amongst the boys which shot me up a bit. I was a little bit off my rhythm to start with but I thought the intensity was quite good.
Morris: It is quite difficult for a fast bowler to come after a month and bowl the way he did tonight. Credit to him for the way he held himself together and put up a good show. Nathan is an exquisite bowler; he bowls fast and swings the ball. You would want him in your team. Any team he is going to be in is going to be a dangerous one.
A bowler’s pitch report
Morris: it was a bit slow in the beginning of the innings. It looked like it stuck a bit on the wicket especially if you bowled a few cutters. There was a little bit of dew around towards the end of the first innings. It felt like it skidded on too and it was a good wicket. It played better in the second innings. Fortunately it worked out for us.
Nathan: Exactly the same.
Bowling role-plays
Morris: I try and restrict runs and that is my job. I don’t try and take wickets all the time. I try to restrict the run-flow especially when guys are getting a flow. My job is to block that flow. I believe if you have dot balls, wickets will come. My job is quite simple - which is to bowl fast and restrict the runs.
Nathan: As a bowler I am trying to take as many wickets I can while bowling in the powerplay. Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner are their premier batsmen and getting their wickets was the main plan while going in to bowl. If you are not successful in getting those wickets you try to restrict their flow and rhythm. That is what we did quite well today. They did not have two overs in a row where they could get away scoring runs. You always had one end blocked.
The full toss that got Kane Williamson
Morris: There was a little bit of reverse swing on offer I thought and I wanted to bowl a yorker. The key for me was to hit the stumps. I went into a mentality of ‘you miss, I hit’. I thought he would try and hit me over cover but luckily he missed a full toss.
Picking the wise-man’s brains
Nathan: Zaheer Khan has a wealth of knowledge. The most I have tried to pick from him is the ability to think out of the box like him. Whether bowling in the powerplays or bowling at the death, he is always thinking where the batsman is going to hit him. Once he has assessed that, he bowls accordingly. The most important thing that I have taken from him is trying to think a few steps ahead of your game.
Morris: I would agree with Nathan. He has some outstanding bowling awareness. He has got unbelievable knowledge and experience in there. Whatever Zak says, we go with it. We trust him as a captain. Sometimes you are left scratching your head, but you realise that it pays off in the end.
Batting tips for Nathan from Chris Morris? Watch what he had to say about Morris’ batting.
